Jersey Bridgeman: Girl Killed While Parents Are In Jail Was 'Amazing Child'

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Jersey Bridgeman endured a lot in her young life, including abuse at the hands of her father and stepmother, but school officials say she was still a happy little girl.

Now, with the couple away in prison for chaining her to a dresser last year, authorities are trying to figure out who killed the 6-year-old. Her body was found in a vacant house this week in Bentonville, a northwest Arkansas city best known as the home of Wal-Mart's headquarters.

"To find out that the girl had been abused before, to me it was like: `You've got to be kidding me,'" said Mike Poore, school superintendent in Bentonville, where Jersey attended kindergarten at Sugar Creek Elementary. "How can someone that young go through so much?"

Still, despite the hardships she faced, Jersey managed to delight those she met.

"She's an amazing child," said Mary Ley, communications director for Bentonville schools. "She'd been through a lot and still had joy."

Police in the city about 215 miles northwest of Little Rock have said they're investigating Jersey's death as a homicide, but they won't disclose how she died. In a statement Friday, they said the girl's family members have been cooperating with detectives but do not want to speak to the media "during this time of grieving" and "ask that their privacy be respected."

Authorities haven't arrested anyone in connection with Jersey's death or publicly identified any suspects or persons of interest.

"There's no reason ... for the community to be worried at this point," Capt. Justin Thompson told The Associated Press on Friday. He would not say whether authorities think someone who knew the girl killed her.

Thompson said Jersey's body was found in a vacant house two doors down from the home where she lived with her mother. He said investigators believe the girl died sometime between midnight and 6:53 a.m. Tuesday, when her body was found about 10 minutes after someone called police to report her missing.

Thompson would not say who called 911.

Authorities have searched the home where Jersey lived, the house where her body was found and the home in between the two. Thompson wouldn't talk about what evidence they collected.

Jersey's death comes almost a year after her father and stepmother chained her to a dresser in nearby Rogers.

According to court records, David Bridgeman told an investigator he cut a belt to fit around his daughter's ankle and chained her to the dresser because she got into medication and other things around the house. He and Jersey's stepmother, Jana Bridgeman, both pleaded guilty in June to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Jana Bridgeman is serving a 12-year prison sentence, plus three years for a probation revocation. David Bridgeman is serving an 18-year prison sentence.

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Donna Willing Murder: Prosecutors Accused Sex Offender Robert Hill In 1970 Cold Case

Monday, November 19, 2012

MILWAUKEE -- Virginia Davis describes says the pain left behind by her 9-year-old sister's 1970 rape and strangulation as being like "a million holes."

Only 4 years old at the time, Davis knew little about the crime. The subject remained off-limits for the next four decades for many in a family that hoped to forget the hurt. But Davis couldn't forget, and after years seeking help to solve her sister's killing, she's preparing to face the man police believe is responsible.

On Monday, prosecutors will argue that a childhood neighbor and convicted sex offender – who they say confessed to the killing but has since recanted – should go to trial in the death of Donna Willing. With physical evidence in the case lost or destroyed, prosecutors say the will argue under the state's sex offender law that Robert Hill, 73, is a sexually violent person and must remain in custody indefinitely.

Davis says that when she was a child, her sisters would scold her for talking about Donna, warning, "You don't want to make mom cry, do you?" Most of the siblings don't discuss it even now.

But Davis needed answers. At 15 she found the courage to go to the library and read news coverage about her sister's death. Every detail discovered since has helped.

"I didn't feel like so lonely, I didn't feel so empty, I didn't feel like I had a million holes anymore," said Davis, now a mother of three who lives in suburban Milwaukee. "I just started feeling like it's easier, it's easier, it's easier now. I can talk about her now. I can speak her name."

This 1963 family photo shows Donna Willing,
left, with her sisters, Susan and Barb at Christmas.
Donna was raped and strangled in 1970.

Davis clearly remembers the afternoon of Feb. 26, 1970. Her big sister Donna was reading to her from a favorite book about animals as they sat on the couch. Her mother wanted Donna to go to the bakery for bread, but Virginia purposely delayed the trip, begging for one more story.

"I remember seeing out the window, it was getting dark and thinking `Mom won't make her go if it gets dark. She'll send (my brother) or somebody else. She can't go,'" Davis recalls. "We were afraid of the boogeyman and stuff back then. The boogeyman will get her if she goes out after dark."

Donna walked out at 5:15 p.m. A witness later saw her get into a green car. Less than two hours later, a man discovered her bruised and bloodied body under a car in his garage about a mile away.

Newspaper reports at the time said police had people of interest, but no leads panned out.

In 2004, Virginia Davis saw a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about police arresting an 83-year-old man for a 1958 murder based on DNA evidence. She called the reporter for help getting police to take another look at her sister's case.

A cold case unit that formed in 2007 did, and soon focused on Hill. He had lived next door with his wife and five children and Davis said she remembered playing with his son. She also remembered his wife, who always yelled, but not him.

Prosecutors soon discovered physical evidence in Donna Willing's case had been lost during a flood or when detectives cleaned out the evidence room in the 1990s, according to police Lt. Keith Balash. So investigators in 2008 began interviewing Hill in prison – where he was serving a 10-year sentence for sexually assaulting four children under the age of 10 between 1995 and 2002.

Hill first told police he sexually assaulted Donna after she got into his car that night, according to court documents. She began to squirm and slapped him. He became angry, afraid she would tell on him. He strangled her and dumped her in a garage. It all took about 10 minutes, he said.

In another account outlined in court documents, Hill said he molested Donna for years, picked her up and had sex with her. After she screamed, he put his hand over her mouth and strangled her.

Hill, who is now being in held a supervised facility, has since recanted both statements. Balash said Hill knew specifics of Donna's injuries that hadn't been released.

Hill's attorney, Robert Prifogle, didn't return a phone call seeking comment before Monday's hearing.

This undated family photo shows the home of 

Donna Willing. Donna was raped and strangled in 1970.

Police have identified Donna Willing's childhood neighbor as 

the alleged killer: 73-year-old Robert Hill.

Before her mother died in 2009, Davis finally asked why she needed Donna to go to the bakery. Her mother said she wanted to make French toast for dinner. That filled a big hole. This year, Davis met the man who discovered his sister's body – another big hole filled. She said she had blamed herself when she was younger for delaying her sister's trip until after dark, but no more.

Davis chokes up when talking about her gratitude for the cold case detectives who pursued the case.

"I want to invent or create a word and I can't come up with anything yet that is the equivalent to how I feel," she said.

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Lyric Cook-Morrissey, Elizabeth Collins Parents Appeal To Kidnapper

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The parents of Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins, two young Iowa cousins missing for four months, have issued an open letter to whomever is responsible for the disappearance of their children.

The letter was published Tuesday in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. It reads:

To Whom it May Concern:

We would use your name, but we don't know who you are. Or maybe we do? Maybe you are someone who knows the girls? Maybe you are someone who just acted upon an impulse? Maybe you planned to take them? We don't know, because we don't know who you are.

But we can sort of imagine that you must not have had the things you needed to grow up feeling safe and loved. Because only someone who hurts inside would hurt another person and their family. We've all heard the saying, "Hurt people, hurt people." We believe that is true.

We are so sorry for whatever happened to you, when you were growing up. Certainly, all children do not receive all the love and care they deserve. Some are even abused by those who are supposed to have taken care of them. When that happens, it is very wrong.

Taking the girls from us has caused much pain, pain for them, pain for us and our families. Since the time you took them, maybe you've wondered more than a few times, how you could ever make it right. How to be a hero, not a monster. Things probably look pretty hopeless for a good outcome.

We want you to know that we are praying for you to do the right thing. By releasing the girls, everyone wins. Even you. The person who took them.

Imagine how it will feel to have everyone remember that you were the one person, in all the missing children cases, the one person who cared enough to let the girls go! You will not be remembered as the one who took the girls, but as the one who let them come home.

Our lives have not been the same since July 13. Please, let our girls come home to us.

Do the right thing. Be a hero.

Sincerely

Drew and Heather Collins

Dan and Misty Morrissey-Cook

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, of Waterloo and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins of Evansdale were last seen July 13, when they left their grandmother's Evansdale home on a bike ride. The girls' bikes and one of their purses were found later that day on a nature trail that runs along Meyers Lake. Despite multiple large-scale searches, the girls' whereabouts remain a mystery.

Investigators suspect the girl's were kidnapped, but have not found any evidence suggesting where they might be held. According to the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, investigators continue to receive tips and are following up on leads.

Also on Tuesday, the girls' family members and dozens of friends and supporters gathered at Countryside Vineyard Church in Evansdale for a prayer vigil to mark four months since Lyric and Elizabeth went missing.

Elizabeth is described as a white female, 4 feet 1 inch tall, 65 pounds, with sandy hair and blue eyes. Lyric is white, 4 feet 11 inches tall, 145 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on the girls' whereabouts is asked to call the tip line at (319) 232-6682 or 1-800-346-5507. Tips can also be emailed to OurMissingIowaGirls@dps.state.ia.us.

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BBC ARABIC WORKER CLUTCHES BABY SON KILLED IN GAZA STRIKE

Pictures of a BBC worker cradling the body of his 11-month-old baby son after a Gaza strike have emerged online.

Jihad Misharawi weeps as he holds the body of his 11-month-old son Omar following an Israeli air strike
in Gaza City

Jihad Misharawi, of BBC Arabic, lost baby Omar after his house was struck in Israel's air strike on Wednesday.

Mr Misharawi's sister-in-law was killed and his brother was seriously injured in the attack.

BBC Foreign Editor Jon Williams this morning tweeted an image of the tragedy and a message of thanks to everyone who had sent condolences to his colleague.

The strikes came after Hamas's top military commander Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari was killed in Gaza on Wednesday.

Eleven Palestinians were killed in the ensuring Israeli operation, the BBC reports, although it is unknown if Mr Misharawi's son and sister-in-law are included in this figure.

On Thursday morning three Israelis were killed after rockets were fired from Gaza.

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Jessica Tata's Lawyers Ready Defense In Deadly Day Care Trial In Houston

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

HOUSTON -- Attorneys for a Texas woman facing a murder charge after a fire at her home day care killed four children and injured three other kids could begin presenting their case to jurors.

However, Jessica Tata's defense team declined to say how many witnesses, if any, they planned to call Tuesday to testify in a Houston courtroom.

Prosecutors rested their case against Tata on Monday after calling about 30 witnesses over nearly two weeks.

Investigators allege that Tata had left the seven children she was caring for alone at her home to go shopping at a nearby Target store when oil in a pan ignited atop a stovetop burner that had been left on. The children in the February 2011 fire ranged in age from 16 months to 3 years old.

Tata's attorneys insist she never intended to harm the children and that she tried to save them from the fire.

Tata, 24, is charged with four counts of felony murder but is currently being tried only in the death of 16-month-old Elias Castillo. She faces up to life in prison if convicted.

During Tata's trial, which began Oct. 24, surveillance video was presented that showed her shopping at Target just before the fire occurred. A former Target manager told jurors that Tata did not seem to be in a hurry after realizing she had left the stove top burner on while the kids were at the day care.

Tata went through an orientation class in which she was told of her responsibilities as a child care provider, according to Susan Lahmeyer, a former district director of licensing with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which oversees day care facilities.

"The cardinal rule in child care is supervision of children," said Lahmeyer, one of the prosecution's last witnesses.

DeGeurin, Tata's attorney, has suggested to jurors that the deadly blaze could have been sparked by a malfunctioning stove.

Neighbors testified about hearing the children crying during their unsuccessful attempts to reach them during the blaze. Parents of the children who died or were injured told jurors they had trusted Tata, believing she was qualified. Several 911 calls that were made on the day of the fire, including one by Tata, were played for jurors. Tata burst into tears when her call – in which some of the children can be heard crying in the background – was played.

Along with the murder counts, Tata was indicted on three counts of abandoning a child and two counts of reckless injury to a child.

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Jake Ziegler And Ray Pierce Missing: Teenagers' Car Found In S.C. River With Two Bodies Inside

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A car containing what authorities believe are the bodies of Jake Ziegler and Ray Pierce, two North Carolina teens missing more than three weeks, was found Sunday under a highway bridge in South Carolina, police said.

According to Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid, the vehicle was found by volunteer searchers from the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons out of Wilmington, N.C. The organization spotted the vehicle upside down in the Wateree River in Kershaw County, S.C., late Sunday afternoon. The vehicle was completely submerged in the water about 30 feet from the shoreline, Reid said.

Evidence at the scene suggests the vehicle went off the left side of Interstate 20 East near the 96 mile marker. It then traveled down a steep embankment near a bridge that crosses Lake Wateree and came to rest in the river, police said.

Autopsy results are pending, but police said the license plate on the vehicle matches the one of the vehicle the teens were driving, and it's likely the two victims are the missing young people.

Ziegler, 18, and Pierce, 17, both high school seniors from Sherrills Ford, N.C., have been missing since Oct. 13.

On the morning of their disappearance, the boys told friends they planned to drive to Myrtle Beach, S.C., but would be back by the following day. Pierce sent a text message to his girlfriend at about 1:30 a.m. saying, "We're almost at the beach." No other messages were sent.

From the start of the search, investigators operated under the suspicion that the boys had been in an automobile accident. The green Pontiac in which the pair was traveling made it difficult for authorities to spot the wreckage.

The "Help find Jake Ziegler & Ray Pierce" Facebook page issued a statement late Sunday night about the latest developments.

"Please continue to pray for [the families], for this will be the hardest thing they will go through in their life."

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Samuel Cutrufelli, Accused Burglar, Sues Jay Leone, 90, For Shooting Him During Alleged Robbery

A 90-year-old man who shot a robbery suspect is now being sued by the accused burglar.

Back in January, Sam Cutrufelli allegedly entered the Greenbrae, Ca., home of 90-year-old Jay Leone and began robbing the senior citizen at gunpoint. At one point, police say, Leone convinced the suspect to let him use the bathroom, where he hid his own guns, and the two then exchanged gunfire.

Leone shot Cutrufelli three times before the two men began to wrestle each other. Eventually, Cutrufelli allegedly attempted to shoot Leone in the head, only to realize he was out of bullets.

The invader then ran from the home, and he was eventually charged with attempted murder, burglary, robbery and firearms offenses by a felon.

Now, Cutrufelli, 31, is suing Leone for causing him "great bodily injury, and other financial damage, including loss of Mr. Cutrufelli's home, and also the dissolution of Mr. Cutrufelli's marriage," according to SourceNewspapers.com.

Cutrufelli is near the end of his criminal trial and could face life in prison if convicted. If he is acquitted, his lawyer, Sanford Troy, believes his client's suit against Leone will be successful, but said if his client is convicted, he might suggest dropping the suit.

"All of the people that are commenting believe Mr. Cutrufelli is guilty," Troy told the Marin Independent-Journal. "And that's not the American system of justice. They're entitled to their opinion, but Mr. Cutrufelli is entitled to the presumption of innocence."

Leone believes the lawsuit is ridiculous.

"He's the one who busted my door in," Leone said, according to the New York Daily News. "I'll just countersue him then. That's what I'll need to do."

Leone isn't the only one. Two legal experts contacted by the Marin Independent-Journal expressed doubts that Cutrufelli could win his suit based on the facts as presented by the prosecution, and one predicts it could be thrown out before it ever goes to court.

Cutrufelli's lawsuit is scheduled for a case management conference on March 13, 2013.

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Mass Shooting Reported Near Wisconsin Mall

Sunday, October 21, 2012

A mass shooting occurred on Sunday near a mall in Wisconsin, WISN 12 News reports.

The incident took place near Brookfield Square Mall in Brookfield, Wis.

The shooting suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Radcliffe Haughton, according to sources at Reuters. Haughton may have been in an ongoing domestic dispute with a woman who worked at the Azana Spa. NBC News reported that a judge filed a protection order against him days ago.

Haughton is still at large.

A hospital spokeswoman told CNN that at least seven people have been shot. According to the AP, four people have been brought to the hospital will non-life threatening injuries. Three more patients are expected at the hospital soon.

No fatalities have been reported.

CNN reports that the shooting may have occurred at the Azana Spa in the area. The shooting may be part of an ongoing domestic dispute, in which someone at the spa was going through a divorce, NBC News reports.

WTMJ, a local radio station, reports that the suspect is still at large. Authorities are searching for a 6-foot-1-inch, 270 pound African-American man with a bald head and brown eyes. He may be driving a 2003 black Mazda Protege with license plate No. 171-KZD.

Medical and emergency personnel have arrived on the scene. The mall, as well as some nearby roads and businesses, have been placed on lockdown.

WISN reports that the FBI is sending staff to help out local authorities.

It was the second mass shooting in Wisconsin this year. Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran and white supremacist, killed six people and injured three others before fatally shooting himself Aug. 5 at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee.

The shooting at the mall took place less than a mile from where seven people were killed and four wounded on March 12, 2005, when a gunman opened fire at a Living Church of God service held at a hotel.

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Oklahoma Girl Shoots Home Intruder: 12-Year-Old Uses Family's Gun To Protect Self, Home

Saturday, October 20, 2012

When one Oklahoma girl found herself in a tough spot, she took matters into her own hands.

Police say the Calera 12-year-old used the family's gun to shoot and injure an alleged home invader on Wednesday, KFOR reports.

"And what we understand right now, he was turning the doorknob when she fired through the door," said the Bryan County Undersheriff Ken Golden, according to News9.

Police say the girl contacted her mother, who instructed her to take the weapon, hide in a closet and phone police.

"I see a lot of girls on TV that get their house broken into and they turn up missing and just knowing that that could have happened to me. I was scared," she said, according to KOCO.

The suspect was taken to a hospital and then sent to the Bryan County jail, according to NewsOK.

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Missing Whitney Heichel's Body Found; Jonathan Holt Arrest

Whitney Heichel

Searchers found the body of a young Oregon woman who vanished this week on her way to work and a neighbor has been arrested, Gresham police said late Friday night.

The body of Whitney Heichel, 21, was found on Larch Mountain, a remote, forested area east of Gresham, Police Chief Craig Junginger told a news conference.

After collecting DNA and fingerprints and conducting three interviews over three days, police arrested Jonathan Holt, 24, of Gresham, for investigation of aggravated murder, the chief said.

Holt lived in the same apartment complex as Heichel and her husband.

The Starbucks barista reportedly left her apartment for work at about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday on a drive that typically takes less than five minutes.

Her husband, Clint, called police roughly three hours later. He told investigators he tried to reach Whitney multiple times after her boss alerted him that she never arrived for her 7 a.m. shift.

Police said Heichel's ATM card was used at a nearby Troutdale gas station at 9:14 a.m. Tuesday. Two hours later, her sport utility vehicle was found in a Wal-Mart parking lot with the passenger side window smashed.

A child later found her cell phone in a field that lies between the gas station and the Wal-Mart, giving investigators another venue to search.

Police have been searching Larch Mountain since Wednesday, believing that Heichel's SUV was driven there.

Detectives interviewed Holt on Wednesday and Thursday before arresting him during a Friday night interview, the chief said.

There were "many inconsistencies" in Holt's interviews, Junginger said.

Additional crime lab evidence received Friday morning tied him to Heichel's vehicle, the chief added.

It was not immediately known if Holt was represented by a lawyer.

Jim Vaughn, a family spokesman, addressed the Friday night news conference, thanking police for their commitment in the case.

"Really, words can't begin to express the sadness that our families are experiencing tonight," Vaughn said.

"Whitney was a very loving person," he added. "She was warm, she was kind, she was everything you would want in a friend, relative, spiritual fellow worshipper."

He asked for privacy for the family, saying "our loss and heartache is too much to bear right now."

Police took no questions.

Missing Oregon Woman Whitney Heichel's Body Found

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Elizabeth Escalona's 99-Year Sentence For Gluing Child's Hands To The Wall Considered 'Harsh'

Thursday, October 18, 2012

The 99-year prison sentence imposed by a Dallas judge last week on a mom who glued her 2-year-old daughter's hands to the wall was more than a punishment -- it's an unexpected warning to child abusers across the state.

The details of the physical abuse virtually assured a lengthy term, lawyers told HuffPost. Elizabeth Escalona stuck her daughter Jocelyn's hands to the wall at the end of a brutal beating last year that left the toddler with a fractured rib, bleeding in her brain and bite marks. It sent her into a coma for days. The 23-year-old mother of five exploded in rage because of potty training challenges with Jocelyn, according to testimony from her other children.

In a state known for harshly punishing convicts, District Judge Larry Mitchell's sentence still commanded attention.

"It is very unusual and it's high time," said Madeline McClure, executive director of anti-child abuse organization TexProtects. "There's too much leniency in letting parents go."

Extreme sentences aren't unusual in Texas. In 2008, a jury sentenced James Kevin Pope to 40 life terms for sexually abusing three girls. (He's eligible for parole in 3209). In August, Rickie Moore, another sex offender, got 52 life sentences for sex crimes against three girls.

The severity of the violence in Escalona's case was heart-wrenching, but the case didn't involve sexual abuse, and Jocelyn survived and is expected to fully recover physically.

"That's a very harsh sentence for any judge," said Texas County and District Attorney Association President Lee Hon.

Hon has prosecuted fatal child abuse cases in southeastern Polk County that resulted in shorter prison terms. However, he cautioned against comparing other cases to this one. "It may just mean that the judge in this case was trying to send a harsh message."

Texas needs help deterring child abuse, experts said. It leads the country in child deaths from abuse and neglect, according to statistics reported by CBS affiliate KTVT earlier this year.

Mitchell could have sentenced Escalona to anything from probation to life. She pleaded guilty in July to one count of first degree injury to a child, a crime more serious than attempted murder in Texas.

The 99-year sentence demonstrates Mitchell's apparent belief that Escalona cannot be trusted in society, especially around her children, observers said. She is eligible for parole in 30 years

"I expect he didn't think there was much chance for rehabilitation," said Barry Sorrels, a Dallas defense attorney. "The facts in a child abuse case can be so aggravated and so horrific that a sentence of life can be justified."

Tapes of Escalona as a teen threatening to kill her mother were played during the sentencing phase, as well as graphic photos of bruises on Jocelyn. The prosecution said Escalona was a former gang member and labeled her a "liar" and "monster."

Mitchell, a Democrat reelected to the bench in 2010, didn't return repeated calls for comment. During the sentencing, he said: "On Sept. 7, 2011, you savagely beat your child to the edge of death … for this you must be punished."

Defense attorney Angie N'Duka tried to elicit sympathy for her client by saying that Escalona was raised in a home where drugs and violence were common. N'Duka didn't return calls from HuffPost, but told reporters last week that the sentence "is way too harsh. She is just a kid. She's only 23-years-old. She's been a victim all her life."

After a conviction, defendants in Texas choose either a judge or jury to decide their sentence. Given the graphic evidence presented, it's unlikely jurors' sentence would have been better for Escalona.

"Generally, Texas juries are harsh," said Lydia Clay Jackson, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. "A jury would probably do the same thing."

Whether or not Escalona would have fared better in front of a jury is impossible to know. Lead prosecutor in the case, Eren Price, however, told HuffPost that she got what she deserved.

"I've never had a case like this with a collection of injuries that I believe constitutes child torture," said Price, who wasn't surprised by the sentence. "The judge delivered what is justice for Jocelyn. Jocelyn deserves to go through life with as much peace as we can give her."

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Elizabeth 'Lizzi' Marriott May Have Died During Group Sex Encounter With Seth Mazzaglia

Police in New Hampshire are investigating claims that a college student believed to be dead was murdered during a group sexual encounter, CBS Boston reports.

Authorities continue to search for the body of Elizabeth "Lizzie" Marriott, who possibly suffered a fatal suffocation while having sex with her suspected killer, Seth Mazzaglia, and another woman.

On Saturday, prosecutors charged Mazzaglia, 29, with the second-degree murder of Marriott, who vanished last week and whose body remains unfound, according to the Associated Press.

Marriott, a student at the University of New Hampshire, was last seen on Oct. 9 after attending an evening class in Durham.

Authorities say that they expect additional arrests to be made, but Associate Attorney General Jane Young said Wednesday that investigators are still building their case.

“We bring a charge when there's evidence,” Young told the Portsmouth Herald. “What I maintain in this case, is if the evidence brings us to the fact that another person was or other persons were involved then other charges would be brought.”

The search for Marriott's body is ongoing, spanning the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine.

"At this point, [she] could be anywhere," said Young, according to Patch.

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Ohio Shooting: 3 Dead, Including Shooter And 3 Year Old, In Apartment Murders

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

TOLEDO, Ohio — A man fatally shot his estranged girlfriend and their 3-year-old son and wounded three others at a suburban Toledo apartment complex before he fired at officers and was shot to death, a police chief said Wednesday.

Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer identified the gunman in Tuesday night's shootings as 24-year-old Jorge A. Duran II.

Duran killed his estranged girlfriend, Amber Jones, 26, in one apartment, then took their 3-year-old son, Jorge III, to another apartment in the complex, where he shot the child and wounded three other adults, Hummer said.

Duran came outside into the parking lot and fired at two Lake Township police officers who had responded to the call at about 9:40 p.m., Hummer said. One of the officers was SWAT-trained and fired back at Duran with an assault rifle.

"They ordered (Duran) to get to down on the ground. He refused to comply and then he opened fire," Hummer said. "They returned fire, mortally wounding the suspect."

Hummer said he didn't know how many shots were fired or how many times Duran was hit. Neither officer was hurt.

The wounded in the second apartment included a 45-year-old woman, a 39-year-old man and a 26-year-old man. Hummer said two of them were hospitalized in serious condition and one was in guarded condition. Their names were not released.

Investigators believe that Duran and Jones ended a relationship in the past two weeks, and Jones was dating one of the men in the second apartment, Hummer said.

Three officers initially responded to what was reported as a home invasion in Lake Township, south of Toledo. They encountered a wounded person outside, and one officer stayed with that person while the other two went to investigate, Hummer said. The pair encountered Duran a short time later.

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Whitney Heichel Missing: Oregon Woman's Car Found, Disappearance 'Suspicious'

An Oregon woman has been reported missing after her abandoned car -- a window smashed out -- was found in what police are calling suspicious circumstances.

Whitney Heichel

Whitney Heichel, 21, was last seen at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday at her Gresham apartment on October 17, leaving for her shift at a Starbucks just two minutes away from her home, KATU reports.

Her husband, Clint Heichel, told the station nothing seemed suspicious until he received a phone call at around 8:15 a.m., asking if his wife was sick. She had not shown up for work that morning. At around 10 a.m., Clint Heichel called police to report that his wife was missing.

According to a flyeron the "Find Whitney Heichel" Facebook page, the woman's debit card was used that morning at several ATMs and three different gas stations. Clint Heichel said two of those transactions, both of which were gas purchases, occurred just eight minutes apart, one at 9:22 a.m. and another at 9:30 a.m.

One gas station attendant reported seeing the SUV with Whitney Heichel in the passenger seat and an unidentified man behind the wheel, according to the flier. The man reportedly "was acting suspicious and hurried, buying only a small amount of gas."

Surveillance video shows Whitney Heichel's SUV at one of the stations, KPTV reports, but the grainy image prevents investigators from determining who was driving.

At around 1 p.m., friends located the SUV in the back corner of a Walmart parking lot about 5 miles away from her home. "The passenger side window was busted out, the backseats were down, there was mud on her tires," Clint Heichel told KPTV, noting that the tires had not been muddy the night before.

He describes his wife as sweet and dependable, according to KATU.

"She's beautiful, and she's a little ball of energy and full of life," he said.

Whitney Heichel is described as 5'2", 120 pounds. Her SUV is a black 1999 Ford Explorer with tinted taillights and Oregon license place 189 EJZ.

Anyone who has any information on her, or who may have seen her vehicle before it was recovered, is asked to call the Gresham police tip line 503-618-2719 or 1-888-989-3505.

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RIP Amanda Todd: Bullied Canadian Teen Commits Suicide After Prolonged Battle Online And In School

Friday, October 12, 2012

Amanda Todd, a Vancouver-area teenager who posted a story to YouTube last month about being cyber-bullied, was found dead Wednesday night in Coquitlam, Canada. Authorities believe she committed suicide.

Amanda's video tells a heart-wrenching story of the bullying she was subjected to -- both online and off. "In 7th grade," she begins, sharing her message on cue cards, "I would go with friends on webcam [to] meet and talk to new people." At one point, a stranger flattered her into flashing the camera.

One year later, a man contacted her on Facebook, threatening to send around the picture of her topless "if [she] don't put on a show." Terrifyingly, the stranger knew everything about her: her address, school, friends, relatives, and the names of her family members. Soon, her naked photo had been forwarded "to everyone."

Amanda developed anxiety, depression, and anxiety disorders, she says in the video, followed by a path into drugs and alcohol.

She changed schools and found a new group of friends in an effort to leave behind the bullies. Then the man created a Facebook profile, using her uncensored photo as his profile picture. "Cried every night, lost all my friends and respect people had for me... again... then nobody liked me," she wrote in the video.

Soon after, the bullying started again and she began to cut herself. Amanda moved to yet another school, where, after a boy began flirting with her, a troupe of girls from her first school came and beat her up. "Kids filmed it," she writes. "I was all alone and left on the ground."

"Teachers ran over but I just went and layed in a ditch and my dad found me." When she went home with her dad, she drank bleach in an attempt to kill herself, but was saved after a rushed trip to the hospital.

Amanda's bullying continued despite moving to a new city. Anti-depressants and counseling did little to combat the severe depression. The description on her YouTube video reads:

I'm struggling to stay in this world, because everything just touches me so deeply. I'm not doing this for attention. I'm doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong. I did things to myself to make pain go away, because I'd rather hurt myself then someone else. Haters are haters but please don't hate, although im sure I'll get them. I hope I can show you guys that everyone has a story, and everyones future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through. I'm still here aren't I?

"It is a very sad case," Paul McNaughton, a principal at CABE, the high school she'd moved to in Coquitlam, told the Vancouver Sun. "I can tell you we feel we tried everything we could to help her when she came to us."

"She was quite connected here. The staff and the students here are very much impacted. She had some very strong ties in the school and to staff in the school."

A Facebook page titled Rest In Paradise Amanda Michelle Todd had nearly 33,000 likes at the time of this writing. The wall features countless messages of condolence.

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